Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction November 2010
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/16/2010
Anything worn by the Great One is tough.... but jerseys from his days in the Big Apple are next to impossible to obtain. Wayne Gretzky sported this stunning white New York Rangers uniform when he first arrived in the city for the start of the 1996-97 campaign. Wayne, reunited that year with Mark Messier, put up respectable numbers with 25 goals and 72 assists during the regular season and added another 20 points in the playoffs. This jersey from the first set is loaded with customizations from the shortened sleeves and cuffs to the added Velcro strip and special "Gretzky 99" restaurant logo tag inside the lower hem. A lengthy set tag has been added that notes the year, Set 1 and has the embroidered logo of the New York Rangers. This tag differs from those on other Set 1 shirts as Wayne first uniforms were customized in Los Angeles by Sportsrobe, the company responsible for his jerseys the year before while with the Kings. Drop-shadow letters cascade down the front and the storied "99" appears on the arms and back with "Gretzky" arching across just above. The Starter made uniform has their logo embroidered onto the rear hem in two places and their company tagging in the collar with no sizing indicated. The heavily-customized shirt was obtained a few years ago by our consigner directly from former New York Rangers head equipment man Mike Folga. Folga tells us that Wayne wore this jersey in one of his first games in New York and then took it off after the match and gifted it to Mike's son, Dakota Folga. The jersey displays a nice, bold "Wayne Gretzky 99" signature on the left breast with the added salutation "To Dakota, Your Friend". This signature could easily be removed but we feel it adds to the provenance. It is also noted that Mike Folga was the source for the photo-matched game-worn Rangers jersey worn by Wayne for a number of games including the warm-up for his final farewell game in 1999, sold at auction by Lelands a number of years ago. Game wear is very light with one good stick mark down on the left arm and we believe, as Mike recalls, that the jersey was worn in a single game. Still, any uniform worn by Wayne in NY is a huge find as we have only seen two others make it onto the collectible market. This jersey has been examined by the experts at the MeiGray Group who are very familiar with Rangers uniforms. It will come with a package of authenticating documents including a letter from MeiGray that states, in part, "Characteristics of this jersey: Double Starter logos and NHL shields embroidered on back hem, tagging, lettering, 1996-97 New York Rangers Set 1 patch, Velcro sewn into hem, Gretzky restaurant logo patch sewn inside jersey, custom Gretzky cut garment, fight strap cut out, and the design are consistent with other 1996-97 game-model New York Rangers Set 1 Wayne Gretzky jerseys we have examined". The jersey has been registered as a game model uniform into the MeiGray database and it will also come with a detailed letter from the consigner relating the history and provenance.
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